Mai Mahiu flood victims wait for Ruto's promise, 12 months later

One year ago today, the sounds of rumbling boulders, gushing waters, followed by screams of pain and despair, hit several villages in Mai Mahiu, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction.

More than 60 people, mainly minors, were killed; the fate of tens of others remains unknown, while property worth millions of shillings was reduced to waste.

For tens of families, this marked the darkest night of their lives, and one year on, not a single government promise has been fulfilled as they try to come to terms with the incident.

In the early hours of 29 April 2024, a blocked railway culvert in Kijabe burst, flooding several villages, burying victims in sand, and leaving a trail of destruction.

For the next couple of days, one body after another was recovered some tens of kilometres away as the victims tried to grasp the magnitude of the incident.

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What used to be homes, shopping centres, and sources of livelihood were swept away and replaced by boulders and deep trenches, with the land declared uninhabitable.

Hours after the tragic incident, top political leaders, led by President William Ruto, visited the victims with the promise that they would be resettled in a few months and compensated.

One year on, this remains just that – a promise!

For Mary Muthoni, who lost eight members of her family on that fateful day, the events of the night will forever remain etched in her mind.

She says that more than 15 family members, including minors, had converged in her home in Ruiru village to raise funds for her son, who was in remand for an assault case.

“After deliberations, we decided that those present should spend the night, as it was late, only for the floods to sweep everything, including my children and grandchildren,” she says, before breaking down.

Rumbling sounds, followed by screams, woke the family as they grappled in the darkness, unsure of the problem or where to go.

“Part of the house, where some of the family members were sleeping, was hit by a boulder and gushing waters, and in seconds everything was swept away,” she says.

She narrated how she rode on a log before managing to swim to safety, where members of the public rescued her before taking her to hospital.

“I lost my daughters, a daughter-in-law, and grandchildren, and the pain is unbearable as I wait for resettlement from the State,” she says, with a distant look.

Another survivor, Peter Waweru, who lost his wife and two children but escaped with a leg and hip fracture after being swept by the gushing waters for more than two kilometres, recalls:

“We were aware of the dangers posed by a nearby dam, but our homes were very far from even the seasonal river, and many ignored this advice as we didn’t have anywhere to go,” he says.

The 54-year-old father of four narrated how the floods caught them by surprise, adding that efforts to rescue his children were fruitless due to the pressure from the water.

Distant look

“I lost my wife and two children, one escaped unscathed, and one was admitted to hospital with injuries,” he says with a distant look.

Once the envy of many due to its fertility and scenic views, the farms have now been turned into barren land covered in boulders and deep trenches, after all the fertile soil was washed away.

According to one of the victims, Rachel Wanjiku, the land they had known as home is no longer habitable due to the effects of the gushing waters.

Wanjiku notes that for years they had tilled the land, producing all manner of vegetables, before the tragedy struck, sweeping everything, including the fertile soil.

“We used irrigation to farm this land, but the floods swept away all the fertile soil, leaving behind boulders, and the land is now useless,” she adds.

Speaking in Kamucira village, she has called on the government to keep its promise of resettling all the victims who were left homeless by the calamity.

Naivasha MP Jane Kihara, who was at the forefront in supporting the victims of the tragedy, says the incident is still fresh in her mind.

She says that hours after the homes were flooded, she managed to visit the area and saw firsthand as bodies, some stuck in mud, were dug out.

“The happenings of that day and what followed are very painful and fresh in my mind, and this has been made worse by the lack of willingness from the government to support these families,” she says.

Kihara adds that a local committee, composed of the victims, village elders, and government officers, identified more than 120 acres where 56 families displaced by the floods would be resettled.

According to her, the owners of the land were selling an acre for Sh1.2 million, but the government officers had valued the land at Sh600,000.

She adds that the government had set aside Sh250 million for the planned resettlement, but the two parties had failed to agree on the value of the land, leading to the current impasse.

“As it stands, we are back to square one, as the landowners won’t come down on the prices while the government has stuck to its guns,” she says.

Kihara has termed the move as a big blow to the tens of families who no source of livelihood after all their personal effects were destroyed or swept away.

On her part, Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja has promised to present a petition to the Senate to intervene over the failed resettlement of the victims.

“The President had on several occasions promised to resettle these victims, but it’s sad that months after the incident, many are now being evicted from their houses,” she says.

The Senator has challenged Nakuru County to also keep its promise of resettling the families, noting that during the memorial service, the Governor had come up with a budget to assist the victims.

“The county had set aside funds for disaster management, plus funds for addressing the El Niño rains, and this could come in handy in resettling these families,” she says.

According to the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA), tens of students were still traumatised by the tragedy and were in need of counselling.

Nakuru KESSHA chairman, Kinyanjui Mwangi, says the tragedy had mentally affected both students and parents, highlighting the need for psycho-social support.

Speaking after visiting Ngeya Secondary School, Kinyanjui noted that the event had also affected the academic performance of the students as they tried to come to terms with the deaths and losses incurred.

“We held a debriefing for our staff and students following the tragedy, and we are working with Chiefs to trace the students who failed to report back to school,” he says.

Speaking earlier, Naivasha Deputy County Commissioner Josiah Odongo accused some of the elected leaders of politicising the issue as the victims continued to suffer.

Right prices

He said that the government had plans to resettle all the victims, as plans to acquire land at the right prices had kicked off.

“Some of the leaders who are supposed to be making policies to resettle these victims have politicised the issue, but the government will keep its promise,” he said.

A senior government officer, who declined to be named, confirmed that there were orders to stop any construction until an assessment exercise was carried out in the affected area.

The senior officer from the Ministry of Lands noted that some of the land was prone to future flooding, while some of the boulders were not stable and could collapse at any time.

“Some government institutions were mandated to conduct a safety assessment so that we don’t have a repeat in future, and hence the orders to first get an authorisation letter,” said the officer.